1st Round BPA ILB, FS, or TRUE DOMINATE RUN STUFFING NT.
Vita Vea is my early favorite
NT from Washington
https://youtu.be/P2MBuoepc1I
1st Round BPA ILB, FS, or TRUE DOMINATE RUN STUFFING NT.
Vita Vea is my early favorite
NT from Washington
https://youtu.be/P2MBuoepc1I
Roquan Smith announced he's going to the draft. Would be a dynamic pick if available. If you're looking to stop the run, Joisey Jewell wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. I'd rather either than a reach on the "prospective" pick of PSU safety Marcus Allen in the 1st... and I'm a PSU fan. 2nd round, okay.
Im still really puzzled by the lack of desire to upgrade at tight end. Vance has shown you guys enough to:
1) Stay on the field?
2) Not drop the ball?
3) Be productive?
4) Worth the price tag?
He's gonna be a cap hit of $4.6 million-$6.4 million a season for the duration of his contract. I have no doubt that he will be a nice piece for the offense if healthy, but he had so many unrelated injuries throughout the season that im not convinced. Id rather ask him to take a pay cut or get rid of him.
I would love a complete tight end like Fumagalli out of Wisconsin in the 1st round. If we keep Vance and he stays healthy, it still wouldnt be a waste of a pick. Double tight end sets (with both tight ends being monster blockers and receiving threats), sign me up. Our offense will make this year's offense look like a joke
James and Grimble are just terrible. I dont think a single player on the roster is graded on a more generous curve than James. I have no idea why. Is it the cool nick name, the size, the fact that he's from Pitt? The bias needs to be dropped down the garbage disposal
Safety appears to be the highest priority though. Mitchell needs to go ASAP. We dont know if Davis is going to pan out yet
I am in agreement.
11 good players who are very well coached and play as a unit are often better than more gifted individuals that are out of synch (or play uninspired).
Case in point: Steelers vs. Jags Playoff game
I noticed immediately that the Jags were playing collectively inspired football on both sides of the ball and punched us in the mouth.
We came out lethargic like it was a practice imo.
I also believe great coaches and team camaraderie can inspire this type of great play.
"With love, with patience, and with Faith
....She'll make her way" ~ Natalie Merchant
I would love to pick up Andrews but he won't be there at 28 and I can't see the steelers reaching in R1 when there is a pressing need at ILB. But hopefully R2 or R3. Here's a list of TE
https://www.drafttek.com/2018-NFL-Dr...2018-Draft.asp
i would draft qb..mason rudolph
olb.. dupree replacement.guy is like useless to me..that position 1-2 years good then they dissappear(woodley)
safety
ilb
nt
o line
missed not having timmons around
KNOCKIN ON 7'S DOOR!
im curious to see people's strategic analysis on the tight end situation though. If were picking that late, clearly we arent counting on a new tight end to contribute as a starter. I dont think people are realizing just how expensive Vance is. And he's missed 22 games in 5 seasons. He had 4 separate injuries this past season alone, that might mean something different to everyone.
James and Grimble suck at everything. If we keep Mcdonald, were gambling hard with his health/pricetag. If we cut Mcdonald and dont get a tight end early, were conceding a lot of mediocrity in one position
Again, not the biggest of concerns, but for these reasons I definitely think tight end should be considered a serious option if value dictates as much at the 28th pick
With Ben's declaration he's in it for another three years or so, drafting a QB now would be wrong since their contract would only be 5 years. We wouldn't have seen enough out of him (one season) to sign him to a long term contract when the Steelers like to do so (before the last year). That being said, three years is also enough time to see what Joshua Dobbs can do and how he'll develop. So, unless a stud dropped to us for some inexplicable reason, there's no reason to draft a QB right now.
So, the focus shifts to the defense. Where are we weakest? ILB. Second weakest? OLB. Third weakest? I know people will say safety, or CBs, but I don't see it. We are at the worst, average. Our CBs and safeties were not beat today, except by one (lucky) long pass. So, after ILB and OLB, I think the focus shifts back to the offense and a TE. I like what MacDonald showed us, but I didn't like how inoften he was able to show it. So, that'd be my third in level of necessity. However, I'd be willing to forgo that for a power running back that can compliment Bell and just pound the ball up the middle when necessary. There is NO REASON with this o line that we can't gain a yard on 4th and 1. Thus, call that third and fourth level of necessity, interchangeable. From there, it's a crap shoot. If a safety comes along, pick him up. If another CB comes along, pick him up. But really, we are knee deep in decent to good CBs right now. For those who are down on Burns, give it time. It was his sophomore season. There's a reason they call it the sophomore slump. I think we'll see some good growth in his third year.
Todd McShay has the Steelers selecting Dallas Goedert with the 31st overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburgh...raft-112338919
With Ben saying he wants to play for 3 more seasons, you can flat out rule on them taking a QB, especially taking Dobbs last year.
S/ILB
ILB/S
TE(With Vance most likely being brought back, not sure how high they take one. Good TE class though, I'd look to take advantage of the depth)
OL
Great post. Our secondary is actually coming together, but when you give any QB (yes even Bortles) that much time with no pressure to throw and let guys run wide open in the middle of the field ANY QB in the NFL is going to look great. I mean look at what Ben did to the Jags vaunted defense with time. He hung 42 points on them.
But we're stuck with Haden and Mitchell anyhow. If we could just get pressure on the QB again our secondary won't have to cover to 7 seconds.
I 100% agree on this, the FA safeties this year are plentiful. Replace Mitchell with a FA and then we free up a draft slot. For the Draft I think we go with best avail between ILB and OLB for the first pick, second would be the one we didn't get in the first, then a NT. After that I don't care. But we need to absolutely hit on our ILB pick.
Which offenses give us the biggest fits defensively? What is it that they do that we don't have the personnel to stop? We have a stellar Dline, with quality depth and rotation. VW and Watt played well all season, but the rest of the LB corp were mostly footnotes. The CBs were a very nice surprise this year. Haden, Sutton, Hilton, Burns, and Gay, all made significant plays. Mitchell and Davis both played out of position and missed angles, allowing for big plays in every game.
Thus, I would focus on upgrading our LB corp, and safeties. IMO, Mitchell and Davis both need to be upgraded. Time to get serious about the safety position. I do not expect Shazier back, and even if he does make it back, expect some missed games. We need a new starter and depth at ILB. Watt showed that he can be a special player. Can he move to ILB? If so, then we need to draft/FA 2 OLBs, that will need the time to learn, something that is not popular for this forum. Since this is a draft thread, I will go with BPA in the first, still. With all of the QB hungry teams this draft, positions of need should be a little deeper than usual.
Going to be a monster. Mind you he's almost 6'5"
Hey all. First post here. Long time board creeper...
Anyway - really hoping that we pick up some good defensive players in the draft. I’m thinking they really need to not just focus on skill, but try and find players like Polamalu who don’t just talk trash, but make statements with their play. Seems like a culture change is neeeded. We really need guys who can keep their mouth shut (unlike Williams and Mitchell) and can lead through action.
Here's a name to throw out there in a draft discussion. If there will be no Bell next season, could this guy be Bell 2.0?
http://www.espn.com/college-football...29828/lj-scott
He never put up Bell's 2012 yardage, but he never got 300+ attempts either. Still an impressive size, speed, and yards/carry. Anybody watch this guy at MichState?
Yes... yes, he is.
We have discussed how Rashaan Evans can play OLB/ ILB... well, Edmunds is even more versatile. I'd love ot see him paired up on the same defense as TJ Watt.
Let's add his brother, too.
R1: Tremaine Edmunds, ILB, VaTech
R2: Terrell Edmunds, S, VaTech
(Alas... Tremaine should be gone by 28.)
If Jefferson can somehow turn his other-worldly skills into NFL production, he would be in the top 5 of this draft.
With the right coach (Belichick...ugh) he could be as good as we’ve seen in a long, long time.
As far as one of the ILBs dropping to the Steelers... I’m hoping that as many QBs, OTs, WRs, and CBs go in the top 27 as possible (pushing the ILBs and/or Ss down to us).